Rabbit Hole
by QuixoticQuest
Summary: PART OF THE 2O BY 20 CHALLENGE. AU. Harry died at the end of HPDH, but a new mystery arises when Ginny receives information about a kind of magic that allows one to see the past or to find an alternate path. What is it and will it help her find Harry?


**Rabbit Hole**

_The challenge? – To write twenty one shots before my twentieth birthday. Officially this challenge is going to be called __**"The Twenty by Twenty Challenge"**__ and I have until my birthday, July 23__rd__ at 5PM (since that was the time I was born), to write 20 one-shots from any category. __**The Rules:**__ a) I am not allowed to repeat any categories more than twice. b) I am only allowed to write each one-shot in a minimum of 2000 words (not including the A/N). c) (Within reason) I MUST accept any one-shot requests from readers (in terms of prompts). d) I must use the following piece of dialogue in the fic somehow: "No, I wanted fries with that!" or if it's a song-fic, use all the lines from the song in the piece somehow. _

_EXCEPTIONS: For categories that have a subcategory, the total of one-shots allowed in that category may be doubled. EX: Star Wars EU. For each category, the use of a song-fic as a prompt may be used ONCE per category. RESTRICTION: All songs may not be used more than once (songs used in previous fics, as long as they are not one-shots, may be used again for this challenge)._

_Restrictions on Accepting Prompts: The following types of prompts are ones that I will not write on principle (I mean no offense to anyone who does write them, but I myself won't): fiction or non-canon pairings (except for one or two non-canon pairings, I will not write these). 2. Porn fiction. 3. Hate fiction (I have yet to read those but I am sure that there are some out there and I refuse to write them or read them). 4. Anything that breaks the rules of FFN or my moral beliefs/principles. 5. Disney Channel fics or fan fiction that I have no familiarity with (in order to write well, I must write fan fics about books or movies that I've already read or watched). _

_The punishment? If I am not able to write twenty one-shots by the time my birthday arrives, I will a) Have to write twenty more one-shots (time span TBD) b) I will have to accept writing any kind of one-shot (no matter how ridiculous)- please note: the same rules for accepting prompts or requests as before apply here. c) I will change my username to the first request that anyone gives me (for one week)- again, within reason (I will not accept names that are crude, obnoxious or offensive in any way). Lastly I will have to read/review 10 fics from each of my fandoms-only the ones I've written in though (requests from readers of my fan fiction welcome). _

_I didn't mention this in the first one-shot, but with song-fics, the number of words DOES/CAN include the song lyrics. But this only works for song-fics. Songs may not be inserted into other fics to complete the word count. _

_Without further ado, here is the next one shot of my "Twenty by Twenty Challenge." _

**Prompt- As per the request of one of my readers (and my initial plan of writing fics for this challenge), I am writing a HP one-shot. This is my first HP one-shot and for the prompt, I decided to use David Lindsay Abaire's "Rabbit Hole" concept as inspiration. For those of you who haven't read this play (first of all, it's an amazing play, so I highly recommend reading it) the story follows a family who has just recently lost their son and in the play there is a scientific concept that if one goes out far enough out into the galaxy, time travels backwards because the reflections of the current time are still traveling through the rest of the galaxy while our world is moving forward to new moments. So, I decided to play with that idea in this fic. In other words, the basic idea is that you can see your past self or people you've lost, in past moments if you go far enough out into the other rings of the galaxy. I think it's a cool idea at any rate. This prompt is also coupled with the song "Honesty" by Billy Joel. I do not own "Rabbit Hole" or the song "Honesty" all rights reserved to Abaire and Joel. **

**I also got some of my ideas from Lewis Caroll's "Through the Lookingglass" (better known as "Alice in Wonderland by you movie-goers). The poem in italics is however, a piece I wrote myself. So I reserve the rights to it. **

**So, without further ado, here is the third one-shot in my "20 By 20 Challenge." As per the rules, I am only allowed to write one more HP shot for this challenge. **

**This is set post HPADH.**

**Enjoy,**

**-Don ^_^**

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That day Ginny Weasley had lost herself. Because the one person she'd really found love in was killed in front of her eyes, she couldn't stop the nightmares from coming every night.

Sure, she'd gone out with many other boys during her years at Hogwarts, but eventually all of them faded into the background when Ginny discovered that she still couldn't forget the one boy who had never once left her mind. Maybe in the beginning, Ginny's crush on Harry had been a foolish dream, a silly idea that came from listening to all those stories about the "Boy Who Lived" and how heroic he was.

But when she actually got to know Harry Potter, Ginny realized that he wasn't any of the things that the media and rumors had chocked him up to be. Of course he played the part of the hero well, but in truth, Harry was a flawed human with a noble heart of gold. As Hermione liked to joke, he had "True Moral Fiber." Maybe it was seeing Harry next to her in the Chamber of Secrets, blood dripping from his arm and him telling her to leave and to go find Ron: that made Ginny see the true Harry. He was a hero, but he wasn't immortal or a god. Harry bled just like anyone else did, he slept just like anyone else, and got nervous around girls just like any other guy would. Though, Ginny admitted, Harry was cute because he had a harder time hiding his emotions than other guys did.

If you search for tenderness  
It isn't hard to find  
You can have the love you need to live

Harry Potter wore his true feelings and his emotions on his sleeves and that proved, if anything, that he wasn't trying to be a cool hero who didn't fall flat on his face sometimes. It had taken many of the students at Hogwarts to understand that about Harry, but Ginny knew it from the moment she saw Harry's weak smile as he accepted his fate after having been bitten by the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets.

There was always something in his smile that assured Ginny that no matter what happened in the wizarding world, everything would be okay. She couldn't really place why she thought that, but she knew that Harry's true power wasn't his wizardry, it was his ability to give people hope. He certainly gave Ginny every reason to hope that she could someday prove to him that she wasn't a silly little girl or simply just "Ron's Little Sister."

It was funny therefore, that when his sixth year rolled around, Harry only had eyes for Ginny when she was busy snogging Dean Thomas. A relationship that ended badly in the end, but at the time, Ginny had genuinely liked Dean a great deal.

But when all was said and done, Ginny knew that Harry would have to leave her eventually to go fight Voldemort. She knew it. The whole time she had the fear in the back of her mind that Harry would be the only one able to stand in front of the most evil wizard in the world and defeat him singlehandedly. The very thought terrified her.

The real truth began to set in at the end of Harry's sixth year when he told her at Dumbledore's funeral that he couldn't be with her because he knew he'd constantly be on the move and in danger of being killed by any of Voldemort's force. But Ginny knew as well as Harry did what the risks were. She knew that Voldemort, as the disgustingly manipulative monster he was, would do anything to bring Harry down. The dark wizard would stop at nothing to kill Harry Potter and would use any methods necessary to get to Harry. It became abundantly clear that Harry was even more vulnerable when Dumbledore died. Just like the rest of the wizarding world, Harry didn't have Dumbledore's powerful and comforting experience on Harry's side. No, Dumbledore, at that moment, was gone and it was left up to Harry to complete the tasks laid out for him since the moment Voldemort had attempted to kill Harry that night.

She couldn't tell Harry that she knew, though. She had a feeling he would have asked her to stay with him if it weren't for his dangerous quest. Ginny felt angry at being left behind when Ron and Hermione were allowed to go along with Harry on his journey. Then she realized that if he had let her come, it would undo everything that Ginny had come to know as Harry Potter.

But if you look for truthfulness  
You might just as well be blind  
It always seems to be so hard to give.

So it was that moment when Harry's lifeless body was revealed in the arms of Hagrid, that Ginny realized that everything wasn't going to be okay. Harry hadn't exactly lied to her or sugarcoated how risky his task was, but he hadn't told anyone that he had figured out what the final horcrux was. He never told anyone that the final horcrux couldn't be found because the final horcrux wasn't an object… it was him.

Of course nobody knew until the end of the battle that Harry hadn't simply been killed by Voldemort: Harry had let himself be killed. There was no possible way that Harry Potter would have given up so easily or died without at least dealing a final blow to Voldemort and that was exactly what he'd done. Only Harry hadn't come back after that. He'd died that day and when Voldemort laughed so triumphantly at the shock on everyone's faces, Ginny had lost it.

She'd taken out her wand and turned it on the dark lord, who was too distracted by his own victory to notice that someone was pointing a wand at his withered heart. The flash of green light blinded everyone's view for a moment and then Voldemort had crumpled into a pile of bones and clothes. He was gone, but Ginny, in her rage, continued shouting every single unforgivable curse she knew until someone grabbed her from behind and her wand was taken from her hand.

"It's okay, Ginny, it's over," The sound of a friendly voice of comfort normally would have comforted Ginny, but instead she broke down, her knees sinking to the ground. Whoever was holding her had turned the restraining grip into a warm embrace. She hadn't thought to ask who it was or even noticed that around her all the Death Eaters were being rounded up and others were killed by other angry wizards.

She'd never actually told Harry the truth and now she'd have to live with that fact for the rest of her life.

Honesty is such a lonely word  
Everyone is so untrue  
Honesty is hardly ever heard  
And mostly what I need from you

The battle was over and Ginny felt completely empty inside. She felt this internal incompleteness still raging and screaming at her from all parts of her body. She'd slowly pulled away from the person who had been comforting her, it was only after turning around that she'd realized with a guilty pang that it was Ron. His best friend had just died and he was more concerned about Ginny than he was himself. Hermione had retreated to the library after the fight and no one bothered to ask her why.

Ginny couldn't even begin to imagine how crushed Ron and Hermione were, let alone how much time it would time, if at all, it would take for the two of them to heal from Harry's death. Ginny knew that if their pain was anywhere near her own in magnitude, they would never heal, not completely.

Ginny found herself then in the room of requirement. She sat on the beaten up couch that she'd found in there and then decided to lie sideways on it, hugging the pillow close to her. The room had become a place to hide from the world, filled with miscellaneous items to distract her from her pain. It came as a shock, therefore, that the door opened and Ginny opened her eyes to see the last person she'd expected to enter the room, let alone find her.

I can always find someone  
To say they sympathize  
If I wear my heart out on my sleeve

It was Percy. The oldest Weasley brother crossed over to the couch and sat down next to his sister, a surprisingly gentle and sobered look in his eyes. His guilt over having turned his back on his father and the rest of his family in their time of need, was apparent. But the most apparent emotion on his face was hurt over a more personal loss.

"Gin," Percy said slowly, "I know I'm the last person you want to hear this from, but I think…" He swallowed, averting his gaze to the floor for a moment, "That you should be with our family right now. They loved Harry as much as you did."

Ginny looked curiously up at her older brother at those words. Had it been that obvious? She wondered when it was that she herself had decided that she'd loved Harry as more than just a brotherly figure or Ron's best mate. But she hadn't expected that anyone else had noticed, after all, Ginny was honest, but she had a great poker face. Many times Fred and George had tried to get her to get into gambling, but of course Mrs. Weasley wouldn't have any of it.

"Ron's been looking for you," Percy continued in slightly firmer tone, but Ginny could still hear the hesitant undertones there. "He wanted to make sure you're okay."

"He should be worrying about himself," Ginny replied shortly, sniffing so that her voice was now calm and composed. Percy didn't say anything, but from the look on his face, Ginny could tell Percy was trying to make it up to Ginny for hurting their entire family.

"It's okay, Perce," Ginny said, "I don't blame you anymore. If anyone should be with them, it's you. You more than proved you were on the right side when you showed up here during the fight."

Percy's shifted as though he were considering listening to his sister, but part of him wanted to stay behind, so he turned to her, "Listen, Gin," Percy said, his gaze still on the ground, "I came across some old wizardry files when I was doing research on Dumbledore for the Ministry," He shifted at the memory. He hadn't wanted to talk about his mistakes in the Ministry, but he knew that this piece of information was important to divulge, so he bit the bullet, "There's a kind of magic, that happens only once in every wizarding generation that Dumbledore stumbled upon. I don't really understand it fully, but according to the theory, one can open up a sort of hole in the galaxy with magic where you can see events that happened in the past," Percy lifted his eyes to meet Ginny's, "It's not the same as time travel, it's just that the light that travels across the galaxy at different rates in different areas."

Ginny paused as she mulled over what Percy was telling her, "So you could theoretically see things that happened in the past, like you were watching something on film?"

Percy nodded, "Or in a sort of alternate dimension."

Ginny frowned, "This sounds awfully like some badly written science fiction story." Percy laughed. It was an oddly refreshing sound to Ginny's ears.

"It could be," Percy said with a thoughtful look in his eyes, "But then again, if Dumbledore kept it hidden away, it probably had some truth to it," He then reached into the inside of his robe and pulled out a stack of wrinkled and ancient looking documents bound by cords, "You might find that some things aren't about following the rules." Percy grinned at Ginny and then stood up to walk out of the room of requirement, leaving Ginny to ponder the meaning of his words.

But I don't want some pretty face  
To tell me pretty lies  
All I want is someone to believe

_Down the Rabbit Hole you will go, _

_falling past the many things _

_and wings you will never experience in any other place. _

_Oh, the places you will go. Up or Down, down or up, and then down is up and up is down. You won't be able to tell sound from the ground and the ground from what's lost and what's found. _

_Be you a wizard, you have magic, it would take some mag and ic to make the two one, or the one a two if you prefer less._

_Less is more _

_and more is less than the amount you would normally want. _

_But the further out you fall, the more footing you gain._

_You will probably need more socks and then more gloves to sock with._

_Where will you go?_

_The past or the future?_

_The present, of course requires a gift to enter it. _

Ginny paused as she stopped reading the text written out by one of the many wizards that a word or two to say about the so called "Rabbit Hole" that could be created when wizard goes "backwards." She couldn't, so far, make head nor tails of it.

_Perhaps it is a bushy tail you want, Sir? Or Madame's lucky left foot. Foot after foot will travel slowly, but only if you're thinking about walking on them._

_The Rabbit Hole is only as long or short as your fall through your own mind._

Ginny blinked. "Well, that was actually something coherent, even though I have no idea what it means," She muttered in frustration.

_If ye be honest, Good Friend, then you shall find what it is you seek. If you know not what you seek, then untie yourself. _

"Clever," Ginny admitted, nodding her head. But she still couldn't figure out what the point of all the riddles was. If there was a way to get to this "Rabbit Hole" why didn't these wizards just say how to get there?

Then Ginny flipped over the next page and found Dumbledore's handwriting. It was the familiar text that brought a familiar twinge as Ginny remembered that Dumbledore had always spoken in strangely amusing riddles each year. On the page before her, again, were a few simple words, scrawled in Dumbledore's messy, yet eloquent writing:

_Around and around you go and then only when you fall will you catch sight of the lucky Rabbit's foot. Honesty will only get you as far as words and words will only give you nonsense. Lose it and you will be found._

Ginny lifted her eyes from the page and smiled. Honesty was something that she'd lost because she'd tried to express it with words.

Honesty is such a lonely word  
Everyone is so untrue  
Honesty is hardly ever heard  
And mostly what I need from you

Ginny then stood up, leaving the papers on the table in front of her. She had a trip to make to the Ministry of magic.

I can find a lover  
I can find a friend  
I can have security  
Until the bitter end

The ride over to the Ministry, now that Ginny could actually see the winged skeletal creatures that she'd ridden on their first quest together as the D.A. and the first time she'd seen it both the prophecy and the veil.

She stopped and found that the Ministry was much easier to get into now that battle was over. She walked slowly through the hallways, then went to one of the lifts, pausing to look at the empty halls. There was a hollow whistle running through the entire chamber and once the lift started, the whistling became louder until Ginny could actually hear faint words being spoken.

Anyone can comfort me  
With promises again  
I know, I know

She entered the chamber with the veil and stood for a few moments in front of it. Luna had once said something about those beyond the veil never being gone. Harry and Luna seemed to be the only ones who could actually hear the voices a few years back. But now Ginny could hear them too.

"_Who are you that seeks the beyond as though it is near? Who are you to say that you are a who and a you? Show us your foot and we shall tell you if you can walk."_

"I have no foot, only me," Ginny replied, putting aside any doubts that she'd had about approaching this puzzle in such an abstract way. But the only way to answer an unanswerable question was to start with the answer and then go backwards to the actual question.

"_Then fall and let nothing catch you," _Ginny then walked up to the veil and pushed lightly against it before she felt herself fall through it and then looked around as she saw many different objects falling around her. She then closed her eyes and with a soft _thump, _she opened her eyes to find she was on the ground outside of the veil once more.

"Hi Ginny," She turned to see Harry Potter standing there behind her with a smile on his face. She wasted no time in rushing over and hugging him hard. "I guess you figured out the riddle."

"It wasn't too hard," Ginny replied with a shrug, "Once I figured out that the riddle wasn't talking about magic at all. It was talking about simply not thinking about things in terms of want."

Harry shifted, "Ginny, I think I haven't been totally honest with you."

She looked at him with a frown but nodded, "Go on."

Harry sighed and mussed his jet black hair. "I said I could handle Voldemort alone and that wasn't true."

When I'm deep inside of me  
Don't be too concerned  
I won't ask for nothin' while I'm gone

Harry looked down at his feet and scuffed his beat-up sneakers along the stones, "I didn't ask for your help and I really regret it," He shook his head, "Because in the end I never told you that I was the final Horcrux. I thought it was better if you didn't know. I thought that if I hid it from you things would be easier on both of us. But I was wrong, I ended up not being able to tell you anything because I hid everything from you. I feel like such a-"

"Harry."

"There's nothing to forgive me for, I've done nothing but hurt everyone around me. I decided to leave without even knowing what I was doing and it's been nothing but lies!"

"Harry," Ginny said more forcefully but Harry shook his head.

"No, listen to me, Ginny, I didn't tell you that I knew I'd end up here and that you could find me," He then bit his lip. "I should have just-"

"Harry James Potter! Shut-up." Harry turned his head to look at the red haired girl standing before him in shock. This was the loudest and most defiant tone he'd ever heard Ginny use. He was stunned into complete silence as Ginny continued, "I also made a mistake in listening to you. I should have gone with you and maybe then you'd have had some way of telling me what happened. I don't know and neither do you. But the point is that we're both here and I know how to get us out of here and back to the world we should be in."

Harry stared at her for a moment, "Which is what?"

"This," Ginny pulled Harry by the collar of his shirt and kissed him hard, "Come on, let's get out of here," She said and then pulled him by the hand as they both fell through the veil once more.

With a _thud, _the two landed outside of the veil, only this time, they were both surprised to see Dumbledore standing there behind them when they turned around.

"Well, did you find the Rabbit?" Dumbledore asked with a smile.

Ginny stood up and brushed off her jeans. She held out her hand and Harry took it. "For now." She replied and with a smile, Dumbledore turned into whispy smoke before going back into the veil.

"Well, shall we go back and see who wants to kill you for dying?" Ginny asked. Harry groaned.

"I think I've died enough for one lifetime," Harry said and Ginny laughed.

"Me too," She replied and that was the honest truth.

But when I want sincerity  
Tell me where else can I turn  
'Cause you're the one that I depend upon.

**A/N- Fin. More one-shots to come. Again, I can only write one more HP one-shot for this challenge, so if anyone wants to request a prompt, it's a first-come, first serve basis. Thanks for reading. =) **


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